Supporting our sisters with cancer

IT'S a disease that doesn't discriminate - one that has touched nearly every person in one way or another - and this year, more than 2050 south west Queenslanders will be diagnosed with some form of cancer.

It's a worrying statistic and one that continues to climb, and while prevention and treatment technologies are constantly improving alongside survival rates, it remains a terrifying and uncertain situation for those diagnosed nonetheless.

But the brave patients battling cancer in the Toowoomba region have found strength in the community and in each other; support that is making their fight that much more bearable.

Tania Charlwood and Katrina Horn, who both underwent treatment for breast cancer, and Carol McKay, who was fighting melanoma, met at the Cancer Council's Olive McMahon Lodge at the beginning of the year.

Each full of lively personality, the women hailing from Kingaroy, Cecil Plains and as far afield as Moree instantly bonded, forming an unbreakable friendship that as Katrina explains, is truly one of a kind.

"We're sisters in cancer," Katrina says.

"Everytime you're in here and someone walks in, they know your language, they know they can talk to you and they know exactly how you are."

Supporting each other through chemotherapy, radiation treatment, the emotional ups and downs, and even radium burn, the women praise each other for providing a positive in a negative situation.

But they also credit the oustanding support they've received from the Toowoomba community for turning a horrible health scare into a touching experience in the beauty of humanity.

One such example that stands out particularly for the ladies, as Tania explains, is their outing to local Turkish restaurant, Sofra.

"They were just marvellous," Tania says.

"When we arrived, they had on our table flowers, lollies spread out, and a free bottle of turkish red wine, and all of that was sitting there with a card that said, 'To the beautiful women at the [Olive McMahon] lodge, love from everyone at Sofra'."

"It's even just the simple things, like when we got lost going into Coles - it's the power of the scarf," Katrina adds.

"Somebody made cushions for all of us here too," Tania says.

"It's just lovely that people can think of others like that, because it does brighten you up.

"It makes you feel like people out there do care."

But of all the efforts to support them in their battle, these "sisters in cancer" say it's the people at the Olive McMahon Lodge who have touched them most.

The lodge, a government subsidised accommodation service for patients from outside Toowoomba who must travel to receive cancer treatment at our local hospitals, not only provides beds, but also crucial support for patients and their families.

"We absolutely commend this place," Carol says.

"I keep telling them I want to come back, but you've got to be careful what you wish for."

Tania agrees, stating that receiving her final round of treatment was a bittersweet moment.

"It's fantastic to be going home, but another part of me is really going to miss what we've got here," she says.

"This has basically been a home away from home."

"A lot of people here don't socialise - there's been a lot of people staying here, and they lock themselves in their rooms, and I think they could benefit so much from just getting together and going out."

But while the steady flow of support from the Toowoomba community has had a big impact on the women and others like them, they say they refuse any notion of sympathy.

"I don't want anybody to feel sorry for me, because there's people out there that have a far worse outcome than us," Tania says.

"I've got no right to say poor me."

Katrina concurs, explaining that she hates being calling a survivor.

"I'm not a survivor because I'm not a victim."

All three women finished their treatment in September, heading home in time to commemorate women's cancer awareness month.

But for Tania, there was one last stop she had to make before making the trek home with her husband, Derek; a trip to Toowoomba's Top of the Range Tattoo Studio to mark the occasion with her first ever tattoo - boxing gloves hanging from a pink ribbon with the words, "I fought like a girl".

"It's like a chapter in a book that's really bad and I'm just getting through the pages, and once you're past that part it's all good again.

"This is my way of closing the chapter."

This year Cancer Council aims to raise $9.47 million nationally through Pink Ribbon Day and Pink Ribbon Fundraising events, which will go towards Cancer Council Queenland's vital work in women's cancer research, patient support services and education services.

For details about CCQ's Pink campaign and events, visit www.pinkribbon.com.au, or visit or call CCQ on www.cancerqld.org.au and 131 120 for information on women's cancers.